One person is said to have major injuries after their car went about 100 feet off a cliff near Willits. Mendo Fever reports it happened around 4pm Wednesday along State Route 20 west of Willits. A witness reportedly called 911 after seeing the car go over the side between Willits and Fort Bragg. Emergency responders lowered themselves down to the car and extricated the driver. He had to be airlifted to a hospital for treatment. His condition is not currently known and there’s no information yet on what led to the crash.
A Lower Lake man is facing felony charges for allegedly making ghost guns. The Lake County Sheriff’s Office says around 2:30 am Tuesday, deputies responded to a home on Short Street in Clearlake Oaks on reports of threats being made with a firearm. Deputies say they found several firearms in plain view as well as several 3D printers. After getting a search warrant they found multiple ghost guns and functional 3D-printed firearms and components to make privately manufactured firearms without serial numbers. Dorian Ridley was arrested for manufacturing and possessing illegal firearms.
If you’ve noticed the Lake and Mendocino Sheriff’s Offices are no longer posting mugshots of people who’ve been arrested, it is due to a recent federal ruling. The case involved an Arizona man who’d been arrested for assault but the charges were later dropped but by then his mugshot and personal information had been all over the media. He sued, and the case that became known as Houston V. Maricopa County went to federal court with the Ninth Circuit Court ruling it was unconstitutional punishment because there had never been an adjudication of guilt. The Lake County’s Sheriff’s Public Information Officer tells Lake County News they immediately took down their whole jail inmate lookup system but after retooling it they have reposted with no mugshot or showing where the person lives.
For the first time ever, the city of Ukiah is working to draft a Historic Preservation Ordinance. The Community Development Director says the idea came out of work that’s been done alongside the Historical Society of Mendocino County over the years to simplify the process of obtaining demolition permits for old buildings in order to make way for new ones while also retaining historically significant structures. The Ukiah Daily Journal reports last month the Ukiah City Council approved the idea. The first step is to update the history survey, last done in 1999, and then draft the preservation ordinance.
With a successful Ukiah Triathlon now in the rear view mirror for the second time, the organizers are working on a third one for next year. There were about 60 competitors at this year’s race at Lake Mendocino in which people run, swim and bike. It had been an annual event for several years but after stopping when the pandemic hit it didn’t return. John and Lauren Strangio of Ukiah brought it back last year and are looking to next year. John tells the Ukiah Daily Journal it should again be on the third Sunday in September and they are already looking at how to improve it. He says it was also a success for the local economy because it draws out-of-towners and hotel owners have told him many of their bookings last weekend were for the triathlon and those folks were also eating at local restaurants and filling up at local gas stations.
This Saturday is California Coastal Cleanup Day, with more than 750 coastal cleanup events across the state’s beaches and rivers as well as places like roadsides where trash can get into the water system. Lake and Mendocino County residents have several events you can choose from both right by the water and inland a little. Go to coastal.ca.gov and check out the interactive map which tells you where to sign up.
